Door operating and locking mechanism for jails.



J. A LOYSTER. DOOR OPERATING AND LOCKING MECHANISM FOR JAILS.

APPLICATibN FILED OCT. 20, IQID. hflfifififil W Patented M11220, 1915 6 SHEETS-181133! 1.

Mimi! zrmtor" y 59 7 I THE NORRIS PETERS CO., PHOTO-LITHO., WASHINGTON. D c.

J. A. LOYSTER.

DOOR OPERATING AND LOCKING MECHANISM FOR JAILS.

APPLICATION man on. 20. I910.

1 136351 Patented Apr. 20, 1915.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

63 5 ,z g. 51 62 mm M'lnemaw THE NORRIS PETERS CO4. PHOTO-THO WASHINGTON. D. c.

J. A. LOYSTER. DOOR OPERATING AND LOCKING MECHANISM FOR iAlLS.

APPLICATION HLED OCT. 20, I9i0.

Patented Apr. 20, 1915.

6 SHEETSSHEET 3.

THE NORRIS PETERS CO PHOTcz-LITHO.v WASHINGTON, D c.

J. A. LOYSTER. DOOR OPERATING AND LOCKING MECHANISM FOR JAILS. APPLICATION FILED ocr. 20. 1910.

mmfifim Patented Apr. 20, 1915 a SHEETS-SHEET 4.

THE NORRIS PETERS CO., FHO'IU-LATHQ. WASHINGTON, D. C

1. A. LOYSTER. DOOR OPERATING AND LOCKING MECHANISM FOR JAILS.

H APPLICATION FILED OCT. 20. 1910- w 1.; U 9 m Patented Apr. 20, 1915.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

"HE NORRIS PETERS CO., PHOTC-LITHQ, WASHINGTON, D. C4

J. A. LOYSTER.

000R OPERATING AND LOCKING MECHANISM FOR JAILS. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 20. 1910.

13%351 Patented Apr. 20, 1915.

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THE NORRIS PETERS 60., PHOTO-LITHO. WASHINGTON, D C.

JAMES A. LOYSTER, or GAZELTOVIA, new YORK.

DOOR OPERATING AND LOCKING MECHANISM FOR JAILS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 2@, 1915.

Application filed October 20, 1910. Serial No. 588,028.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, JAMES A. LoYs'rnR, of Oazenovia, in the county of Madison, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Door Operating and Looking Mechanisms for Jails, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improvements in door operating and locking mechanisms for jails and similar places in which a series of cells are usually arranged side by side and provided with separately movable doors opening upon a corridor or exercising space which is also provided with a separate door located at one end of the corridor or series of cells.

In the construction of modern jails, the cells are usually arranged in straight rows orblocks and open into a common corridor or exercising space which is surrounded by what may be termed the jailers corridor, separated from the prisoners corridor by a suitable construction of grating, so that the jailer may safely inspect all of the cells and control the movements of the prisoners without coming into direct contact with them.

Under ordinary conditions it may be safe to allow all of the prisoners to mingle in the same corridor for exercising during the day time, but in some instances it might be unsafe for the jailer to admit a new prisoner to the corridors while the others were confined therein, under which conditions the prisoners in the corridor may be forced to enter their respective cells after which their respective doors are locked before the cor ridor door is opened for the entrance of the new prisoner, the door 'of the cell for the latter being left open for his entrance. It therefore becomes necessary to provide means exterior to the cells and corridors whereby the jailer may operate each cell door independently. On the other hand, in case of a riot or fire it is desirable to provide means whereby the doors of all the cells may be simultaneously closed or opened to confine or release the prisoners according to the emergency. Again when the prisoners are locked in for the night, it is advisable to guard against malicious attempts to open the doors of the cells and for this purpose the sill or threshold of each door 18 provided with a groove or channel and the doors are hung upon a vertically movable support which is connected to a suitable operating member, whereby all of the doors may be simultaneously dropped into their respective channels.

The main object is to provide means operable from a position at one end of the series of cells and exterior to the corridor, whereby the cell doors may be locked, released and operated individually or collectively and also to provide means operable from the same position for locking and releasing the corridor door.

Another object is to provide means where by all of the doors may be simultaneously lowered and raised into and from a night lock, groove or recess in their respective sills or-thresholds to enable the doors to be additionally locked at night independently of the day locks.

Another object is to enable either one or all the doors to be partially opened and locked in such position when necessary as in supplying food or other articles to a vicious prisoner without endangering the safety of the attendant.

Other objects and uses will be brought out in the following description.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a front elevation of the first and last of a series of, in this instance eight, cell doors showing the mechanisms for locking, releasing and opcrating the same and also showing a portion of the mechanism for controlling the operation of the corridor door, the adjacent portion of the cells being shown in elevation partly broken away, while the housings for the door operating and controlling mechanisms are shown in section. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the door locking, releasing and operating mechanisms showing the corridor door in elevation and the looking box or housing in section. Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation of one of the cell door operating mechanisms in position for opening the door, a portion of which is shown in elevation. Fig. 4 is an enlarged face view of one of the door hangers showing a portion of the door and also a portion of the track together with the pawl for controlling the operation of the latch bars. Fig. 5 is an edge view partly in section of the parts shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a front elevation of one of the cell doors and supporting track therefor, showing the night lock operating mechanisms or means for raising and lowering the track to drop or lift the door in and from the channel in the sill or threshold. Fig. 7 is atop planpartly broken away ofthe door controlling mechanisms showing the lock boX andcasing for such mechanism in section. Fig. 8 is an enlarged face view of the locking and releasing mechanism for the corridor door. Figs. 9 and 10 are sectional views taken respectively on lines 99, Fig. 2 and 10l0, Fig. 7. Figs. 11 and 12 are end views of the fixed locking disks and cooperating levers.

V Fig. 13 is an elevation of the corridor lock lever.

In illustrating the operation of my invention,.I have shown in Fig. 1 the first and last of a series of, in this instance eight,

; sliding cell doors 1 of a corresponding number of cells, each door being supported at its upper end by a pair of hangers 2 and rollers 3 upon a suitable tracklwhich is common to all of the doors, the lower ends of the doors being guided and heldagainst inward and outward movement in suitable channels 5 in the sills or thresholds 6 of the cell doors.

' The operating mechanism for the doors comprises a series of, in this instance eight,

sprocket wheels 7- mounted coaxially, side by side, upon a suitable supporting shaft 9 at one end of the series of. cells and doors and also at the same end of the corridor, preferably in aline as nearly coincident with the vertical plane of the doors as may be possible in order that the connections betweenthe sprocket wheels and their respective doors may be nearly in aldirect line, the shaft 9 being disposed at substantially right angles to the cell doors. All

of these sprocket wheels except the last one of the series are mounted-for independent rotary movement upon suitable interposed sleeves or collars 10, the last one of the series being mounted directly upon the shaft 9, and are connected by sprocket chains 11 to independently movable door operating bars -12 which are preferably 10- V latches or looking members 14 which engage in suitable keepers 15,the latches of each door being disposed one above the other and movable vertically and are connected by a link-bar or rod 16 extendin some distance above the door and tcrminating in a lateral OilHOt or shoulder l7 for a purpose hereinafter described. The locking members ll are preferably pivoted to a fixed portion of a door frame, as l S-, While the link-bars or rods --1(3 are pivotally connected to the latches or locking members -l+ibetween their pivots and the keepers -1'5.

Each of the door operating bars -12- is provided with a stud or laterally projecting pin -19 which rides in a furcated end or "opensided slot 20 in one arm of a bell-crank lever 21-, the latter being piv' oted at to one of the hangers 2- of the door. The other arm of the bell-crank lever projects laterally in the direction of movement of the door and terminates in a cam face -23 normally riding under the shoulder 17 of the latch operating bar l 6-.

The sprocket wheels 7 and other mechanisms for controlling the locking, releasing and movement of the doors are inclosed within a suitable housing or lock box Qal which is also located at the adjacent end of the series of cells outside of the corridor oravithin the usual passage assigned to the jailers and inspectors, so that the entire series of doors may be locked, released and operated individually or collectively by the attendant or jailer when outside of the prisoners exercising corridor. The housings 13 and 2-l communicate with each other at their adjacent ends so as to provide for the reception of the sprocket chains and other parts of the door operating mechanisms connected to the sprockets 7.

The opposite sides of each chain 11- are passed upwardly and around suitable idlers -25- and 26 and then horizontally within the housing -l3 around a suitable sprocket wheel 27, said idlers 25 and 2(3 being journaled in suitable brackets 28 on the upper portions of a fixed upright supporting frame -25)- while the sprocket -27 is similarly journaled in a bearing 30 within and supported upon the base of the housing 13. The opposite ends of each chain are connected to an anchorage 31 on the adjacent end of the corresponding door operating bar 12', so that as any one of the sprocket wheels is rotated in the direction indicated by arrow a2 from its normal position, it will impart longitudinal movement to the corresponding bar 12, thereby rocking the bell-crank lever 21 between limiting stops 33, thus engaging the shoulder -17 and elevating the lock bar -l6.- and releasing the latches -14r from their keepers -l5, whereupon by thecontinued movement of the sprocket wheel and door operating bar 12 in the same direction, the door will be opened from its normal closed position. i

Each sprocket wheel is provided with a radially projecting hand lever 3iand pawl 35--- which latter is located near the inner end of the lever and adapted to interlock with one or more notches 37 in the periphery of the adjacent spacing disk or collar -10, the operation of said pawl being controlled by a link 38--- and small lever 39 on the outer end of the main lever 3%. v

The disks 10 which are coaxial and alternate with the sprocket wheels are keyed to the shaft 9 which in turn is normally held against rotation in the following manner.

A flange 40- is rigidly secured to a fixed bracket &1 within the housing 24-, the periphery of said flange being concentric with the axis of the shaft -9 and is provided with a series of notches 42 adapted to be engaged by a pawl -43 on a lever JA. This lever 4:4: is also keyed to the shaft 9 and is provided near its outer end with a small hand lever 45- connected by a link --4:6-- to the pawl 43 for operating the latter.

When the doors are in their closed positions, the levers 34- and 45 project downwardly and radially from the axis of the shaft --9 entirely within the housing 24 where they are concealed by a suitable door on the front side of the housing.

It is apparent upon reference to the foregoing description that when the levers are exposed by the opening of the door of the housing 24: any one of the doors may be opened by simply rocking the corresponding lever ?A forwardly and upwardly, the notches in the periphery of the disks 10- being located so as to permit the engagement of the pawl 35 therein to lock the door either in its closed or extreme open position, although in some instances I provide each disk with an additional intermediate notch, whereby the doors may be locked in a partially open position.

The lever 44- is for the purpose of operating all of the doors simultaneously and for this purpose it together with all of the disks is keyed to the shaft and it therefore followsthat if the levers -34iare locked by their respective pawls to the disks 10--, the forward and upward rotation of the lever 4:4:-- will rotate the entire series of sprocket wheels 7- together with the disks 10- and corresponding operating levers 34 to impart corresponding movement to the bara12 and cell doors connected thereto, the fixed flange -4:() being provided with notches corresponding to those in the disks 10 to cooperate with the pawl -43 for locking the doors collectively in their extreme open or closed position or in an intermediate open position. 7

When the cell doors are closed and locked to confine the prisoners for the night, it is preferable to provide some means for dropping the doors into their respective channels, so as to additionally lock them against any malicious effort to force them openand for this purpose I provide an additional lever 48- which is loosely journaled on the outer endof the shaft 9 and is eccentrically connected by a link 4) to a crank arm 50. This crank arm 50 is journaled in a suitable bearing -51 on one side of the lock box -24l and is connected by an additional crank arm -52* and link -53 to one end of the track -1. The track is pivotally mounted for parallel longitudinal movement upon a plurality of crank arms -55 which in turn are journaled at their lower ends below the track in suitable brackets 56 within the housing 13, so that as the le-i ver -48 is rocked to and from its normal position longitudinal and vertical movement will be imparted to the track, thereby permitting the doors to drop into their respective channels when the lever is elevated to the position shown in Fig. 6.

As best seen in Fig. 2, the end of the corridor nearest the locking box -24. is provided with a hinged door 57- similar in construction to the cell doors and adapted to be locked and released by mechanism located within the lock box 24. For this purpose the free side of the door swings in close proximity to the adjacent side of the lock box and is provided with one or more keepers 58 for the reception of slidable locking bolts 59 which extend transversely and are guided in bearings 60 on the back of the lock box.

A vertically movable bar 61 is guided in suitable ways 62 on the opposite side of the lock box 24 and is provided with laterally projecting abutments 63 which normally lie close to and inthe path of the adjacent ends of the locking bars -59- to prevent said locking bars from being unlocked from the keepers 5S, except when the vertically sliding bar 6l is shifted by the jailer or other attendant.

The means for operating the bar 61 preferably consists of a lever -65- pivoted to the adjacent side of the box -2 1- and pivotally connected at 66 to the bar -61, so that by depressing the outer end of the lever 65 the-bar 61 will be elevated to shift the abutment 63 out of registration with the adjacent end of the locking bolts 59. These abutments 63 are also utilized to engage one of the arms of bell-crank levers --67 which are pivoted at -68 to one side of the housing 24-, while their other arms are pivoted;

to their respective locking bolts -59, as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

vThe arms 67 are disposed in a substantially horizontal position in the path of movement of the respective abutments 63'. with just sufficient clearance between them to permit said aubtments to be withdrawn from the path of movement of the locking bolts 59 before engaging said horizontal arms and by the continued upward'movement of the bar 61, by means of the lever 65, these abutments -63 engage the overlying portions of the bellcrank lever -67 thereby rocking them to draw .or interlock the bolts -59- from the keepers 58'.

' Vhen the lever 65 and bar 61-- are returned to their normal positions, the bellcra-nk levers also return by their own gravity and force the bolts 59 to their looking positions.

The doors are prevented from upward displacement from the track 4 by rollers '69 which are journaled in the hangers 2 just below the lower edge of the track and directly opposite the rollers -3, thereby preventing the doors from being pried or forced upwardly, as best seen in Fig. 5.

The operation briefly described is as follows h'en it is desired to open anyone of thedoors independently of the others, the jailer engages the corresponding lever 3% and releases its pawl from engagement with the adjacent disk 10 and then rocks said lever forwardly and upwardly, thereby rotating the corresponding drum 7 and transmitting longitudinal motion to the bar through the medium of the chain '11'. By these means either celldoor may be slightly opened just sufficient to insert the hand or food dishes and locked'in such position, or such door may be opened and locked in its extreme open position,or by the reverse movement of either of the levers 34 the corresponding door may be closed and automatically locked by the catches 14; and also by means of the pawls entering their corresponding notches 37-. In like man-- n'er' all. of the cell doors may be operated simultaneously and locked in their parallelly open or extreme open position by means of the lever al4: and pawl l3 cooperating with the notches l-2- in the disk 10. 7

When the cell doors are moved to their ex;- treme closed positions. the supporting track 4 may be lowered by the operation of the lever t8 to drop the lower ends of the doors into the channels 5 to further lock the doors against being forced open,

particularly at night.

The corridor door 57 is hinged as dis tin-guished from'thesliding cell doors and is locked and released by the locking bolts 59 which are located in the locking box and are operated by the lever 65through the medium of the bar 61 and bell-crank levers 67.

It will be observed upon reference to the foregoing description and accompanying d'awings that when the door supporting track is dropped or lowered to drop the doors into their respective channels the bars -16 which connect the pivoted latches 1-l also drop by their own gravity to keep the latches li i in looking engagement with their respective keepers 15 lVhat I claim is:

1. In an apparatus of the class described, in combination with a plurality of doors, a rock shaft, means for rocking the shaft, disks, one for each door secured to the shaft, door-operating members journaled on the disks, separate connections between said members and their respective doors. and separate devices for locking and releasing said members to and from their respective disks whereby the doors may be operated simultaneously, individually or in groups of two or more.

2. In door operating and locking mechanism for jails, in combination with a plurality of doors, a rock shaft, a plurality of rotary coaxial members concentric with and rotatable independently about the axis of the shaft and each provided with a separate operating lever rigidly secured thereto, separate connections between said rotary members and doors, separate devices for locking each of said levers to the shaft, and means for rocking said shaft and thereby operating all of the levers which may be locked to the shaft.

3. In door operating and locking mechanism for jails. in combination with a sliding door, a rock shaft. a collar secured to the rock shaft and provided with notches in its periphery, a rotary member coaxial with and movable relatively to said collar and provided with a pawl movable into and out of engagement with said notches for locking and unlocking the rotary member to and from the collar, connections between said rotary member and door for imparting sliding motion to the latter by the rotation of said member, means for rotating said memher when unlocked from the collar, and separate means for rotating the shaft when the rotary member is locked to or unlocked from the collar.

4. In door operating and locking mechanism for jails, in combination with a sliding door. a lock therefor. a supporting track for the door, a lock releasing bolt. a bolt operating member pivotally mounted upon the door, and means operatively connected to the bolt operating member for releasing the bolt and opening the door.

5. In combination with a sliding door, opcrating means therefor comprising an endless cable and supporting drums therefor, a lever secured to one of the drums for rotating the same to operate the cable, connections between one side of the cable and door for transmitting motion to said door, a relatively stationary disk coaxial with the lever operated drum and provided with notches in its periphery, and a pawl on the lever operated drum for engaging in the notches of the disk.

6. In combination with a plurality of sliding doors arranged in sequence and movable vertically, a supporting track for the doors, rock arms supporting the track, separate devices for operating the doors individually along the track, additional means for operating all of said devices simultaneously along said track, and further means for moving the track endwise upon its rocking supports to raise and lower the doors.

7. In combination with a plurality of slid-- ing doors arranged in sequence, operating means therefor comprising a rock shaft, disks, one for each door, keyed to the shaft, individual door-operating members coaxial with and rotatable relatively to the disks,

separate devices for locking the individual door-operating devices to the disks whereby said devices will be locked to the shaft, and means for rotating said shaft to move all of the doors simultaneously.

8. In combination with a sliding door, a supporting track for the door, a rocking support for the track, a lever, connections between the lever and track for shifting the track endwise and thereby rocking its supports to raise and lower the track and door mounted thereon.

9. In combination with a sliding door, a door frame, a lock box at one edge of the door, operating means for the door comprising an endless cable having a portion thereof arranged in the lock box and mounted upon the drum therein and its upper portion extending horizontally above the top of the door and engaged with the drum on the door frame above the door, a relatively stationary locking member in the lock box coaxial with the drum therein, means in the named drum movable into and out of engagement with said locking member for locking the drum against movement and connections between the upper horizontal portion of the cable and door for transmitting motion to the door when the drum is operatedv 10. In combination with a lockbox, a series of sliding doors arranged in sequence from the lock box, a vertically movable supporting track for the doors, rocking supports for the track, and means located in the lock box for moving the track endw se and thereby rocking its supports to raise and lower the track and simultaneously raise and lower the doors mounted thereon.

11. In combination with rocking supports and a track pivoted thereto, a plurality of doors arranged in sequence and movable along said track, separate operating devices for said doors, and means for moving the track endwise and thereby rocking its supports to raise and lower the track and doors mounted thereon.

12.,In combination with a sliding door and a supporting track therefor, a cable, supporting drums for the cable, connections between the cable and door including a bar movable a limited distance independently of the doors, a lever connected to the bar, means for limiting the movement of the lever and thereby limiting the movement of the bar, means for rotating one of the drums, means for locking the door in its closed position, and additional means actuated by the limited movement of the lever to release the locking means prior to the opening of the door.

13. In combination with a sliding door, a supporting track for the door, hangers connected to the door and resting on the track, locking members for the door, a bar connecting the locking members, a lever on the door for engaging and operating said bar to release the locking members, means for limiting the movement of the lever, 21 bar operatively connected to the lever and movable independently of the door, a cable connected to the bar, supporting drums for the cable, means for rotating one of the drums, and additional means for locking such drum in different positions to hold the door in its adjusted position.

14. In an apparatus of the character dc scribed, a sliding door, an overhead support-- ing track for the door, a guide-channel for the bottom of the door, rock arms supporting the track and pivoted thereto to move in the direction of its length, and means for moving the track endwise to rock said arms and thereby raise and lower the track and door supported thereby relatively to the guide-channel.

15. In an apparatus of the character described, a sliding door, an overhead supporting track for the door movable longitudinally, a guide-channel for the bottom of the door, means for moving the track endwise, and additional means for raising and low ering the track as it is moved endwise where- 'by the door is correspondingly raised or lowered relatively to the guide-channel.

16. In an apparatus of the character described, a sliding door, an overhead track for the door, a guide for the bottom of the door, means for moving the track endwise,

additional means to cause the track to raise and lower as it is moved endwise for raising and lowering the door relatlvely to the gulde,

and additional means for locking the trackoperating means in its adjusted position for holding the door either in its raised or lowered position. I

' 17. In an apparatus of the character described, a sliding door, a guide for the bottom of the door, an overhead supporting trackfor the door, rock arms pivoted to and supporting the track, means including a hand lever for moving the track endwise and thereby rocking its supporting arms to raise and lower the track and door relatively to the bottom guide, and separate means for moving the door along the track.

18. In an apparatus of thecharacter described, a sliding door, a guide for the bottom of the door, an overhead track supporting the doorand having a limited endwise mox 'ement, means for raising and lowering the track and door as it is moved endwise in reversedirections, a crank arm, connections between said crank arm and track for moving it endwise, a hand lever, connections between the hand lever and crank arm for operating said crank arm, and means for locking the lever against movement to prevent endwise movement of the track.

19. In an apparatus of the character described, a sliding door,,a supporting track for the door, a locking member for said door, avertically movable bar connected to the locking member for operating the same, means for moving the door along the track to openand close the same, said means including a lever fulerumed on the door and operated by the door-opening means for engaging and lifting the bar to release the locking member from its locking position be fore the door begins to open. 7

' 20. In an apparatus of the character described, asliding door, a bar movable in the direction of movement of the door, a lever mounted on the door and having a limited movement relatively thereto, said lever being connectedto the bar for transmitting motion therefrom to the door, means for operating the bar to open and close the door, a locking device for holding the door in its closed position, and means actuated by the limited movement of the lever relatively to the door for tripping the locking device and releasing the door during the initial movement of the door-operating means.

21. In an apparatus of the character described, a sliding door, a supporting track therefor, a bar movable in the direction of movement of the door, connections for transmitting motion from the bar to the door in cluding a bell crank lever pivoted to the door and having a limited movement relatively thereto, means on the door for limiting the movement of the bell-crank lever, and means for operating the bar to open and close the door, a locking member for holding the door in its closed position, a vertically movable bar connected to the locking member, and means on the bell-crank lever for engaging and lifting the lock-operating bar for releasing the lock during the initial movement of the door-operating bar.

22. In an apparatus of the character described, a plurality of doors and operating means therefor comprising a rock shaft, means for rocking the shaft, separate rocking members coaxial with the shaft and movable relatively thereto, separate devices for rocking said members, separate connections between said members and the doors for opening and closing the same individually, and separate devices for locking said members to the rock shaft whereby those which are locked to said shaft may be operated simultaneously by the shaft-operating means to open or close the corresponding doors collectively.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand on this 14th day of October, 1910.

JAMES A. LOYSTER.

Vitnesses H. E. CHAsE, M. V. ANDREWS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. G. 

